A Thimble
by emiiko
Summary: It was the beginning of forever.


**A Thimble**

◊.◊

The sun was warm against his skin, casting a glow over what was usually pale. He could see freckles forming on his arms from the sun's gaze. The clouds moved above his head and if he closed his eyes slightly and lifted his arm in the air, straining his fingers, it seemed as if he could grab a piece of them.

When Edward heard footsteps approaching, he bowed his neck to see the perpetrator who wore a skimpy, white string-bikini, and all her attributes hanging out in alarming quantity. He choked down a sigh and swallowed the saliva that would no doubt have dripped down his chin.

The sun made strands of her dark brown hair look red and smooth. Then it traced down to the dip in her collarbone, across her shoulders and along the rest of her body, stopping only for a brief moment near her knees when she laid herself down on the chair next to him. Bella didn't bother looking over at him, just slipped her sunglasses on and flipped open a magazine.

He turned his attention back to the clouds, curious as to where Emmett had gone, sun glaring in his eyes. As if Emmett and Edward's minds were connected, the glass door swung open, loudly crashing into the other side of the glass in the process. Emmett stepped out, holding three bottles of Heineken in between his fingers.

Edward watched as Emmett attempted to close the door, unsuccessfully, before he put the bottles down on the granite tiles and shut the door. Edward shook his head stifling his laugher. Bella looked up, first glancing over at Edward then to Emmett who she raised her eyebrows at, annoyingly. She opened her moist lips, licking them over with her ripe red tongue. Her peach tinted sunglasses tilted down to the bridge of her nose as she watched her brother fumble with the bottles.

"Bottle opener?" Bella yelled with an obvious hint of irritation. She rolled her eyes as Emmett looked down, shaking his head no.

"Dammit," Emmett mumbled bending over and placing the bottles down on the tiles again. Edward observed him for a few more seconds, watching as he made his way back over to the door, opening it frustratingly. He left it wide open, as he went to retrieve the bottle opener.

Bella pushed her sunglasses back up and went back to eyeing the magazine in her hands, flipping pages back and forth. Edward observed that she wasn't wearing perfume, which wasn't that uncommon during daylight hours. She did mention something from time to time about bees wanting to attack her if she wore Cartier in the afternoon.

Most of the time she smelled like bubblegum and cupcakes but today it was honeysuckle with hints of vanilla. He would never admit to paying attention to such a thing, especially since he'd known Bella ever since he could remember basically anything. His memories were her memories and vice versa. The Swan's and Masen's lives were entwined.

Edward played with the string on his knee-length, black trunks in order to distract himself from the "wet-dream" sitting beside him so wrapped up in what new designer was "in" and who was making the worst fashion "no-no". He rolled his head along the red cushion underneath him, facing away from Bella. The scent on her skin still floating in the air, distracting him from any intense thoughts. The sound of the glass door closing came again, along with running footsteps, much louder than Bella's some time before.

"I got it!" Emmett called, happily rushing towards them in his own black trunks patterned with small blue Hawaiian flowers. His short, dark hair, spiked a little on top, near his forehead.

"You're a moron," Bella said, surely rolling her eyes behind her glasses. She took a bottle from his hand, hastily, almost causing him to drop the other two.

Emmett leaned over Bella's legs where Edward had already moved and reached his hand out for the bottle, wrapping his hand around the body. It was cold against the palm of his hand. Emmett used the bottle opener first, popping off the head and letting it plummet to the ground. Edward waited patiently as Bella popped the top off her own. She reclined, backwards, into the cushion, holding the bottle's head in between her fingertips and tossed the opener to Edward who caught it in perfect motion. Emmett had already sat down on the other side of Bella, chugging down the beer at an impossibly fast speed.

Edward slipped the bottle top off and dropped the small bottle opener to the ground. It made a clinking noise but neither Bella, or Emmett moved from their positions to follow the sound. The beer tasted sweet in his mouth, rolling around on his tongue and down into his throat. After he took his second mouthful, he let it wash over him.

He stared up at the sky once again. It reminded him of their last trip to Florida where they'd recovered weed from Renée's secret stash. They sat underneath the stars, arms spread out in the sand, and their heads converged against each other. As they passed the joint that Bella had rolled perfectly, around and around, they laughed through brittle lips and dry tongues. There were no other two people he would rather get high with.

"I hear there's a bonfire at the beach tonight," Edward said, wiping droplets of beer off his lips. "We should head out there later," he took another nice long swig, letting it sink into his blood stream before taking another.

Bella glanced over at him, rolling to her side, breasts pushed together. Edward tried not to stare, but that was like trying not to breathe. She took a sip of the beer, and wrapped her seductive lips around it's opening. She tilted her head back enough to swallow without choking. "Free alcohol?" She asked, after she'd consumed some of the beer.

"That's what I hear." He paused looking over at Emmett who had already finished off the last chug of beer and was calmly resting with his eyes closed. "When is there ever a beach bonfire without it?" Edward asked, taunting her.

Bella stuck her tongue out at him, throwing her magazine to the ground.

"Swim with me," she said, swinging her legs over to the side of the chair and standing on the tip of her toes before placing the soles of her feet down on the ground. It was a demand more than a question and Bella always got what she wanted. Who was Edward to deny her anything?

She snatched the bottle out of his hand taking a large gulp. He watched her swan-like neck as she finished it off. Bella handed it back to him as she walked to the pool covered in a basin of black marble. The sun beat down on it almost angrily, making it impossible to touch or stand on before jumping into the cool water.

Edward took one last look at Emmett whose skin was burning up from the sun's undeniable gaze and almost told him to put some sunblock on before he turned into a lobster but he was too taken by Bella to say anything. She was tiptoeing on top of the black marble with her arms stretched out like a ballerina.

"Come on!" she whined, waving him over. He walked bare foot to her, back straight, arms hanging at his side and inside he felt uneasy.

The sun was reflecting off the water and into her hair, pressing on his own skin as if saying "I'm going to burn you so you can't feel a thing", but he pushed back the desire to slip into the pool. Once he was in reach of Bella, he pushed his fingers against the small of her back hard enough to watch her dip into the water with a pissed off expression on her face as she sunk to the bottom. Her hair laced the water while she moved her arms, reaching the surface.

"Edward Masen – you bastard!" Bella screeched, brushing the hair away from her face.

Edward just smiled. Crossing his arms over his chest. He stood up on the marble that burned his feet and bowed. "You're welcome," he uncrossed his arms, waving them to the side.

Bella looked furiously at him, lifting her hair up above her head, releasing some of the water that had seeped into her scalp back into the pool. She shook her head back and forth, trying to get the water out from her ears. He could see the protrusion of her nipples piercing through the fabric of her bikini top and he smiled to himself. Bella saw his delighted expression and looked down, sighing exasperatingly.

"Pervert," She shoved the shell of her hand along the water, throwing some in the air towards him. He stepped back, off the edge of the pool where his feet had been ablaze and back down to the ground, laughing at her. His auburn hair shined against the backdrop of the sun.

Bella placed the palm of her hands on the hot surface outside of the cold water. Her breasts, which were covered in the skimpy top, were shoved up against the side of the pool as she lifted herself up, and sat down. Her feet dangled in the water.

Edward paced back and forth, up and down the side of the pool, glancing at the curve of her neck and the beauty of her back where her wet hair clung to her in a way he wished to cling to her. He didn't even know it was possible to be jealous of hair on a person's head till then. Her scent of honeysuckle and vanilla had drifted away with the chlorine filled water and he was saddened that now she smelled like bleach. Someone that possessed her qualities should not smell like a household product at anytime.

She ran her fingertips along the black marble, drawing circles and when Edward paid close attention to her fingers from where he stood, silently, he saw his name scribbled out under each move of her fingertip. He shook his head, assuming he was seeing things and sat down next to her, dipping his own feet into the water. Bella looked over at Emmett, who was lying out lazily on the lawn chair, about ten or twelve feet away from them, his skin becoming a fiery red. She sighed, turning to Edward and shaking her head, took her hair into her hand and made a fist in order to ring out more water.

"He really needs to put some sunblock on," Bella said, throwing her hair over her shoulder, letting the long entwined strands hang near her collarbone.

Edward understood that at times Bella and Emmett didn't get along and could easily rip each other to pieces but there were moments where they both showed a certain kindness towards one another. He could see the concern in her light hazel eyes over the sun's assault on her brother. She wiped her palm over where she'd been tracing circles as if she left some mark she wanted no one to see. She quickly stood up, pacing over to Emmett like an exasperated babysitter.

He watched from afar, toes ringing water around his feet. Bella pushed Emmett awake, who wiped his face in surprise and took the bottle of sunblock from her hands.

Edward noticed a glint of something at the bottom of the pool and leaned over a little, holding onto the edge of the marble. Bella's sunglasses shined from the floor and without thinking about it, he slithered into the pool and swam to the underside, after her glasses. He held his breath until he reached the surface, holding onto the middle of the frames, placing them outside of the water.

He made his way out of the pool swiftly and turned his attention back to the bickering siblings. He shook the water from his ears and ran his fingers through his thoroughly damp hair. Edward couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious Bella was saying something about how stupid Emmett was as she pointed up at the sun then down at his boiling skin. He looked confused and took a sip of Bella's lukewarm beer and shrugged his shoulders. She grabbed back the bottle of lotion and tore off the top, splashing a good deal of it over his stomach.

"Jesus Bella!" Emmett yelled, standing up, lotion dripping down on top of his black trunks. She fastened her hands to her hips then waved Edward over, who immediately obliged after picking up her sunglasses. He jumped off the marble onto the granite tiles and strolled towards them, leaving a trail of water-stained footprints as he walked.

"Tell him he's an idiot," Bella remarked looking back and forth between the two young men, obviously frustrated.

Edward raised his eyebrows, smirking a little. "You're an idiot, man. The woman said so," Edward responded pointing at Bella, trying not to laugh directly at Emmett so that later he could say he was laughing with him and not at him.

Emmett groaned, still holding onto his sister's beer, infuriatingly rubbing the lotion off his chest and throwing it to the ground. "I'm taking a shower," he said handing the bottle back to Bella, stomping off in the direction of the glass doors he'd had so much trouble with earlier. It slammed shut behind him, shaking the rest of the glass embedded in the structure.

Bella made a clicking noise with her tongue, picking up the plastic bottle from the ground. "He's not playing with a full deck," she said, loudly, straightening her back with a sharp crack. "Ow."

Edward strolled around her, sitting down on the chair she'd inhabited previously, like a perfect little sex dream, swirling around in his brain. She sat down next to him, taking the sunglasses from his hand without even a thank you, which didn't surprise him or even upset him. The smell of bleach flowed through his nostrils like flowers would or her expensive perfumes.

"That's supposed to be news to who?" Edward questioned, bending his knees and swinging his legs up onto the cushion, poking her thigh with his toes. She glanced over at him, shooing his toes away from her skin.

"Shut up," She responded, splashing some lotion onto his legs and smiled, elated with herself. He leaned forward, smoothing the lotion onto his leg, on top of the peach fuzz hair that grew on his calves. "Be a doll…" Bella started handing him the bottle of lotion, or actually throwing it into his lap. "And put some on my back. It's only fair since you tossed me into the pool," she whispered, flashing him a twisted smile, with those plump lips of hers.

The sun beamed down on her hair and when she pushed the back of her body into him, after he'd placed both feet back to the ground, on opposite sides, he could feel the warmth splintering from the sun to her back. His hands shook, as the lotion flowed from the bottle and in one fluent motion he smothered it over her back, making sure not to hit the straps of her bikini.

She felt velvety underneath his touch and he couldn't stop the erection from happening, it just happened like one of those inevitable things and even if she felt it, she didn't say a word. Although he imagined it was impossible for her not to notice, or even be mildly amused by it. The lotion, deepened into her milky white coloring evenly, drawing the sun away from her and instead of feeling silky, her skin became sticky once he dropped his hands from her shoulders and back down to the cushion.

"I'm getting in the pool," Edward said swinging his one leg over the chair, grazing her skin a little bit. Bella watched him as he ran to the pool, jumping in quickly as if in some dire need of cooling off. She laughed under her breath and fixed her bikini straps, sliding her fingers in between where the fabric met her shoulder blades and back out, not that she had any qualms about it falling off.

Bella heard him splash back up to the top and he took a breath before swimming to the other side of the pool. She stood up, fixing the bottom part of her bikini and sauntered over to the pool where she followed his movements with her eyes. He swam under water, like a shark on the prowl, with eyes opened and mouth closed, bubbles of air reaching the top of the water. Bella pushed some stray, dried strands of hair away from her face as he came back up for air and brushed his own hair out of his eyes.

He didn't see her right away and when he looked up the sun shadowed her so flawlessly that he drew a breath, trying to hold back his amazement at her striking features, the shape of her jaw, the curves of her lips and the long stringy eyelashes he'd coveted since kindergarten. Her hand lay steady on her hips as she leaned to the side, staring at him, flaxen hair dashed across her shoulders and along her back. She was an Aphrodite in the making, a devil in disguise.

He took a deep breath and waved at her briefly before sinking to the bottom. His swim trunks rose in the water from the pressure. Bella stepped up on the black, plated marble and jumped into the pool, holding her breath as her body met the water. She swam to the bottom of the pool, where Edward was holding his breath. He stared at her, but only until her hands shoved him downwards, smothering him with her body.

In perfect sequence they both closed their eyes and their lips met so eloquently that Edward was sure he was having one of his dreams. He opened his eyes to find that she was really there. She pried his lips open with her tongue and they breathed together, tongues wet and lungs filled with water, breaking apart only when their heartbeats began to plummet. Bella took his hand into hers, entwining their fingers as they pushed themselves up towards the sun.

Edward and Bella both took in a large breath of air, their legs kicking underneath them to keep their balance. Her fingers were still wrapped around his, much larger, stronger ones and he could feel the weight of all his dreams about her being lifted from some unknown place, breaking apart inside of him, filling him up with overwhelming happiness. He hadn't thought it was possible. He'd seen the type of guys she'd dated, briefly during junior high and high school. He'd stayed quiet, never saying a word about how unworthy they were. Not that he believed for a moment that he was, no one was. Bella was a firecracker, she could erupt at any unmentionable moment and burst her lover into flames. The strongest men couldn't maintain that kind of fiery passion and Edward was intelligent enough to know, that in order to live beside it — beside her — you had to mirror the same kind of madness, otherwise she'd get weary and dispose of you.

Bella let go of his hand and swam around him, her wet hair brushing past his shoulders. He followed her with his eyes as he swirled around, watching every small movement she made. She threw her legs up in front of her and floated on her back along the water, staring up at the sky, which was blanketed with small, fluffy white clouds. The sun crossed over her eyes, and ran down her stomach while Edward shifted himself backwards into the tiled wall, still observing her with childlike eyes. He imagined had he been a cartoon character, stars would've floated all around him, along with little singing birds. He stifled a snicker at the thought. She of course, seemed unfazed by the kiss, as if they'd done it a million times before, day in and day out. Of course it happened in his dreams but it never occurred to him, not once, that maybe in her dreams too.

"What was that?" Edward asked, sneering a little bit.

"What?" Bella questioned, dropping her legs back into the water and resting her hand on the side of the marble. She pulled herself up a little to get a better look at him. She noticed the way his lips rested so easily and crookedly to form the grin that literally spread to his eyes. Her heart was not a full place, in fact vacant and empty would've best described the strongest, functioning organ in her body. Emmett was there of course, sprawled across a small space of interior but he didn't consume the space. Her love for him came from a neutral place. The fact that her parents weren't there at all meant close to everything that Emmett held a space at all.

Edward, of course, rendered different kinds of feelings. Her memories of him were spun so vividly in her mind that she couldn't think of a happy moment he hadn't been a part of. She remembered kissing him under a tree at the elementary school, then watching him run away yelling something about her having cooties. The thought brought a smile to her face, while she pressed the tip of her toes against the side of the pool. The place in her heart Edward kept couldn't be seen or even touched, simply because it was the caged part that needed to be kept hidden otherwise it would be damaged. That part of her heart had to remain intact for the rest of her to keep the shell of herself alive.

"That, down there," Edward responded, pointing to the water as if it told a story, their story.

Bella frowned, rolling her eyes. "You mean you don't know what a thimble is?" She swam across to him and then leaned against the edge of the pool, a direct two inches away from him. Their shoulders almost touched. "You know Peter Pan and Wendy?" Bella questioned teasingly, smiling at him.

His eyes examined her. Feeling restless, he reached for her waist and she whirled around so delicately that he forgot for a second that she wasn't fragile, so unlike glass that he dropped his hand from her waist and sighed. Bella tilted her head to look at him and blocked the sun from her eyes. Her insides felt as if they were melting, something was shifting and she could tell by the look in his own eyes that he felt it to, what they'd just shared was more than a "thank you" kiss. It was the beginning of forever.

Edward raised his chin up, slightly and kissed her lips softly becoming unafraid of her magnetic presence. He beamed, leaning his head back, playing with strands of her hair. Bella took his face into the palm of her hands, roughly jerking his head back towards her lips and smashed them together, their teeth clicked in the process. He closed his eyes as their lips spread open and their warm tongues entwined. They pulled apart for air sometime later, neither of them was sure of time.

"A thimble, huh?" Edward joked after taking a deep breath and held her at arm's length. "So which one of us is Peter?" he asked, pulling her a little closer while she wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers touching marble. Edward wanted to believe he was Peter, if only because Peter was the boy but deep down he understood he could never be Peter. He thought rationally, while Bella thought through glossy eyes of wonder and intrigue.

"You'll be Wendy and I'll be Peter," Bella answered, kissing him again underneath the watchful eye of the sun.

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End file.
